Pokémon · Base
Shellder
Fossil Set · #54 · Common · 1999
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$0.42
TCGPlayer
Current listings on The Game Traders
No active listings for this card right now.
Card facts
Quick reference for collectors and graders.
- Set position
- 54 / 62
- Release year
- 1999
- Rarity
- Common
- HP
- 30
- Subtype
- Basic
- Evolves to
- Cloyster
- Retreat cost
- 1 energy
- Illustrator
- Mitsuhiro Arita
- Pokédex #
- 90
- Series
- Base
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Damage Prevention
- Prize liability
- 1 Prize given up
- Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
- Setup
- Basic
- Plays straight down — no evolution needed
Also does
Strategy & play
How Shellder plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- A Basic — hits the board turn 1 with no evolution tax.
- Inflicts Confusion — they must flip to attack (tails fails and deals 30 to themselves). Soft, coin-flip disruption.
- Needs Water Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Water type, weak to Lightning ×2 — a Lightning attacker doing ≥15 effectively one-shots it.
How to beat Shellder
- Exploit its Lightning weakness — ≥15 damage one-shots it.
- On the receiving end of a condition? Retreat, switch, or evolve to wipe it — conditions only stick to the Active.
More by Mitsuhiro Arita
This card was illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita.
Building around Shellder?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"Its hard shell repels any kind of attack. It is vulnerable only when its shell is open."
WSupersonic
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.
WHide in Shell
Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all damage done to Shellder during your opponent's next turn. (Any other effects of attacks still happen.)
Weakness:L×2
Retreat cost:C
Tournament legality
Current legal status across competitive formats.
Pricing reference
Latest snapshot from the upstream catalog. Actual marketplace prices fluctuate by condition, edition, and grade — use this as a reference, not a quote.
TCGPlayer (USD)
Updated 2026/07/07| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | $0.05 | $0.43 | $20.00 | $0.42 | — |
| 1st Edition | $0.47 | $1.99 | $4,321.00 | $1.94 | — |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/06/22| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €0.90 |
| 7-day average | €0.69 |
| 30-day average | €0.63 |
| Low | €0.02 |
| Trend price | €0.74 |
| Low (excellent+) | €0.04 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €0.79 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €0.42 |
| averageSellPrice | €0.59 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €0.42 |
| Reverse holo trend | €0.79 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Shellder is real?
Shellder is not on our list of commonly-counterfeited cards, but counterfeits exist across every set. Check the back-light test (real cards have a black inner layer that blocks light; counterfeits glow through), the rosette dot pattern on the back under magnification, font weight and kerning on the card name, and the holofoil pattern if applicable. For high-value copies we recommend submitting to a professional grader (PSA, BGS, CGC) for tamper-evident authentication.
What is Shellder worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Shellder is $0.42; there are no active listings on The Game Traders right now. Actual value depends on condition, grading, edition and printing variant — graded high-condition copies (PSA 9–10) trade at a substantial premium over raw copies.
What set is Shellder from?
Shellder is from the Pokémon set "Fossil Set" in the Base series, released in 1999.
What rarity is Shellder?
Shellder is a Common card in the Fossil Set set.
Other Shellder printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
